Side wall sampling device



Jan. 27, 1953 M E, TRUE SIDE WALL SAMPLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.6.

lnvlllon. Martn E. True, IY -m Filed April 1'7, 1950 'SAMPLE causenSLEEVE NANDREL FIG. l.

Jan. 27, 1953 M. E. TRUE SIDE WALL SAMPLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed April 17, 1950 INV! NTQR.

Martin E. True,

Jan. 27, 1953 M. E. TRUE SIDE WALL sAMPLINc DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed April 17, 1950 FIG. I2.

FIG.

INVE NTOR.

Martin E. True BY d2.,?

Patented Jan. 27, 1953 SIDE WALL SAMPLING DEVICE Martin E. True,Houston, Tex., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard OilDevelopment Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a. corporation of DelawareApplication April 17, 1950, Serial No. 156,327

The present invention is directed to a device for simultaneously takinga side wall core and a iiuid sample.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device which may beoperated through a conventional core bit to take a side wall core and afluid sample and which may be retrieved by a wire line withoutwithdrawing the core bit from the borehole.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which maybe operated through a conventional core bit and is capable of taking aside wall core and a sample of fluid from a borehole.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a devicewhich may be operated through a conventional core bit to take a sidewall core and a fluid sample substantially simultaneously.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whichwill allow the taking of a side wall core and a fluid sample withoutcontamination of the core or the fluid sample with the iiuid in theborehole.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a devicein which a side wall core tube is provided with a sealing member to sealoff the formation and the tube adjacent the area from which a sample isto be obtained.

Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen from a readingof the following description taken with the drawing in which Fig. 1 isan elevation, partly in section, of the apparatus of the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of the presentinvention taken along the lines II--II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of the device of the presentinvention in the lower end of a drill stem in the act of securing a sidewall core and a iiuid sample;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the latching device and the upper end ofthe device of the present invention with the latch in retractedposition;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the valve mechanism and the corehead and core tube of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a still further embodiment of the apparatus of the presentinvention;

Fig. 7 is a View taken along the lines VII-VII of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view taken along the lines VIII-- VIII of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a modication of the apparatus of 5 Claims. (Cl. Z55-1.4)

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 showing an improved sealing member for sealing theformation against the core tube;

Fig. 10 is a view taken along the lines X--X of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a view taken along the lines XI-XI of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 12 is a further modification of the present invention showing asample tube substituted for the core tube of Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.

The apparatus of the present invention may be described brieily as a`wire line sampling and side wall coring apparatus. This device isadapted to be used in conjunction with a drill bit provided with acentral passage, such as is conveniently used for taking cores from thebottom of the hole, and is arranged to be moved longitudinally along thelongitudinal axis of the drill stem and to be locked releasably to thelower end of the drill stem adjacent the drill bit. When preparing totake a side wall core and sample, the device may be lowered on a wireline or allowed to drop under the inuence of 'gravity through the boreof the drill pipe until it reaches its seat adjacent the drill bit. Whena side wall core and sample have been taken the apparatus may bereleased from its position adjacent the drill bit and withdrawn tothesurface of the earth by means of a wire line.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and5, numeral Il designates an elongated body which defines a samplechamber I2. Elongated body II at its upper end is provided with alatching means indicated generally as I3 and which is conventional tothe art and employed in latching wire line core barrels to the interiorsurface of a pipe string. The upper end of the sample chamber IIembodying the device of the present invention is provided with a head I4 for use in retrieving the device of the present invention or forattaching it to a suitable tool which in turn may be attached to awireline. The elongated bodyl I is attached by suitable screw threads I5to corresponding male threads I6 to a tubular member I1 which defineswith its upper end an offset portion or shoulder I8. The tubular memberI1 is surrounded by a sleeve member I9 which denes a shoulder 20.Tubular member I1 deiines with its outer surface a plurality of slotways2| which are adapted to cooperate with stop members 22 to restrict theupward travel of sleeve I9 as will be described. Tubular member I1 isprovided with an internal bore or passageway 23 which. at its upper end,is in fluid communication with sample chamber I2 and at its lower endwith a passageway 23' which communicates with annular passageway 24'connecting by transverse passageway 24, provided in pivot member 25,with annular passageway 24 which communicates, as will be described,with outlet 28.

A bifurcated core head member 26 is pivotally attached to tubular memberI1 by pivot member 25. Core head member 26 encloses an internal valvemember 21 including an outlet 28 and an inlet 29. Outlet 28 connectswith annular passageway 24. Valve 21 also includes a coil spring 3|)surrounding a downwardly projecting member 3| to which valve closure 32is attached.

Carried by core head member 26 is a core tube 33 provided with a screen34. Core tube 33 is provided with an annular sleeve 35 of a deformablematerial such as natural or synthetic rubber and the like which isattached to core head 26 and is adapted to assume the position shown inFig. 3. Core tube 33 is provided with, at its lower end, a knife edge 36which is adapted to cut a core sample.

Referring now to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the apparatus of Figs. 1and 2 has been lowered through a drill stem and projects through a drillbit 40 in the borehole 4|. The apparatus of Figs. 3 and 5 are similarviews to that of Figs.

1 and 2, but rotated 90 to show a tension member 31, which is adapted tobias the core tube 33 from the longitudinal axis of the device in theborehole. It will be seen that in Fig. 2 a shear pin 38 has been shown,which holds the core tube in inoperative position as shown in Figs. 1and 2 while in Fig. 3 the shear pin 98 has been broken, as shown in Fig.5, allowing the core tube 33 to cause actuation of the valve 21y as willbe described.

It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the shoulder 29 dened by sleeve I9 isresting on an internal abutment 42 of the drill bit 40. It will befurther noted that the core tube 33 has penetrated the desired formation43 of the borehole 4I.

In the operating position shown. in Fig. 3 the coil spring 44 interposedbetween the sleeve I9 surrounding tubular member I1 and the offsetportion I8 thereof is in compressed condition which will urge the sleeveI9 downwardly when weight is picked up on the pipe string to release thecore tube 33 from the formation 43 and to allow the core tube 33 to beretracted within the bit 40. The core tube 33 is thus pulled upwardlyand outwardly from the formation 43, swinging in an arc to a verticalposition as it is retracted into the bit 40.

In Fig. 6 the bifurcated core head 26 has been modified internally toshow another arrangement of a valve member suitable for allowing thetaking of a liquid sample. In this arrangement of the present inventiona core tube 33a is provided with a plunger mechanism 50 which terminatesin an upthrusting pointed member 5I. Pointed member 5I is held in aloaded position by a chain or other suitable connecting device 52 whichis attached to a shear pin 53. Pointed member 5| is spring loaded to beurged upwardly by a coil spring 54 which bears against a stop member 55and the bottom portion thereof against a screen member 56. Surroundingthe pointed member 5| is an annular guide member 51. Elements 59, 5I,54, 55, 56, and 51 are arranged in a chamber 50a enclosed by tube 33aand connecting member 28a. Immediately above the upthrusting member 5Iis a sealing disk 58 which is adapted to be ruptured thereby and abQVesealing member 59 is a valve member 59 comprising a coil spring 60surrounding the upper part thereof and urging the valve member 69downwardly to cause sealing of the sample tube as will be describedlater. It will be seen that valve 59 is positioned in a fluid passageway59a which communicates with passageway 23 by outlet 6| thereof.

Figs. 9-1l, inclusive, present a still further embodiment of the corehead and tube of Figs. 1-5 and show a modification of the annular sleeveof deformable material.

Referring now to Figs. 9-11, a bifurcated member is provided with avalve mechanism 8| including a coil spring 82. Valve member 8| isarranged in a chamber 8Ia and the member 8| is provided with apassageway 83 which communicates with outlet 94 and thence with thelower end of passageway 23; inlet 85 when in an open positioncommunicates with the core tube 86 in a manner which will be describedfurther. Threadably connected to core head by mating threads 81 is anextension thereof 9| which surrounds core tube 86 at an upper endthereof. This portion of the core head may, if desired, be constructedintegrally therewith. Arranged in core tube B6 is a screen 88 adaptedfor the passage of duid therethrough. Core tube 86 is provided with anannular sealing member 89. Member 89 is annularly connected byconnections 90 to extension 9| of core head 80. Bearing against a lowerend 92 of extension member 9| and member 99 which, in turn, rests onshoulder 93 of core tube 86 is a coil spring 94. Annular sealing member89 which surrounds spring 94 is provided with a flexible metal stiffener95 to give rigidity to it and allow the sealing member B9 to resume itsunexed position as shown in the drawing. Core tube 96 is provided with,at its lower end, a knife edge 96 adapted to cut a core on a side wallof a borehole. The core head member 80 including valve 8| is held ininoperative position by a shear pin 91 which engages member 80 and holdscore tube 36 stationary with respect to member 9|. Pin 91 is adapted tobe ruptured at a predetermined pressure by setting down weight on thedrill stem as will be described further.

It will be seen that the screen device 88 is supported by a member 98and that spring 82 is arranged so that its lower end fits into a recess93a of member 98. Member 98 functions to allow opening and closing ofvalve 8| as will be described further.

Referring now to Fig. l2, it will be seen that the bifurcated member 26of Figs. 1 to 9 has been replaced by a bifurcated member 10. Thisembodiment may employ either of the valve members of Figs. 1-9. Thedevice of Fig. 12 differs from that of Figs. 1-9 in that core tubes 33and 33a have substituted therefore at the lower end thereof a conicalmember 1I which is provided with slotted perforations 12. Member 1I isprovided with an annular sleeve of a deformable material 85 similar tothat of Figs. l to 5 which functions in the same manner as the annularsleeve-of Figs. 1 to 5.

The apparatus of Figs. l to 5 functions as follows: The device of thepresent invention may be lowered into a borehole 4I, as shown in Fig. 3,on the end of a wire line until the shoulder 20 comes to rest againstthe abutment 42 of drill bit 40 which is off bottom of hole 4I as shownin Fig. 3. The weight imposed on the device causes the tubular member I1to move downward with respect to sleeve I9 thereby causing compressionof spring 44. The sleeve member I9 riding up on tubular member I1 causesextrusion thereof, in a manner of speaking, from the sleeve and allowsthe core tube 33 to be biased by spring 31 against the side of borehole4 I. Latch dogs I 3 then become operative and latch the device rmlyagainst the inner surface of the tube string. By letting down weight onthe pipe string the core tube 33 is forced into the formation 43 whichcauses the deformable annular sleeve 35 to ride up on core tube 33 andcause a seal between the tube and the producing formation preventing thefluid and core sample from being contaminated by material in theborehole, the sleeve 35 preventing contamination of the sample beingobtained when the sleeve 35 is engaged with the wall of the borehole.The force exerted by the weight being let down on the tubing stringshoves core tube 33 into formation 43 and causes rupture of shear pin 38at a predetermined force allowing valve 21 to be opened. The member 26moves downwardly with respect to core tube 33 which compresses coilspring 30, opening valve 21 and thus allowing fluid to pass through thescreen 34 through valve inlet 29 and valve 21 and through annularpassageway 24 and transverse passageway 24 dene-d by pivot member 25,and annular passageway 24', and thence into the lower end of passageway23 from whence the sample llnds its way into the closed sample chamberI2. Sample chamber I2 is shown with an outlet connection 45 to allowremoval of the sample from the chamber when the device is retrieved fromthe borehole.

When weight is released from the apparatus, spring 30 causes valve 21 tobe closed by core tube 33 moving downwardly into its normal positionsealing the iluid sample in chamber I2.

The apparatus of Figs. 6-8 operates in a similar fashion to that ofFigs. 1 to 5. The shear pin 53 holds the plunger mechanism 58 with itsupthrusting member 5I in a cocked position. As the shear pin ring 65 isforced upwardly in the core tube by the core moving upwardly therein theshear pin is ruptured and releases chain or connecting means 52 which inturn releases the plunger mechanism 50 and the upthrusting member 5Icausing the sealing disk 58 to be ruptured allowing the sample to passupwardly through screen 56, chamber 50a and thence through the rupturedsealing disk 58 and thence through valve 59, chamber 59a, and passageway6I into passageway 23 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 which communicates withchamber I2. Thus as the apparatus is released from the drill bit 49, asshown in Fig. 3, the spring 31 biases the sample tube out to the wall ofthe borehole. The operator sets down weight on the drill stem whichcauses the formation to be pierced. Since the formation pressure issealed oil from the well pressure and since the sample tube is at alower pressure than the formation pressure the formation pressure willserve to open the valve and allow fluid, after puncturing of the disc 58by the member 5I, to ilow into chamber I2 as has been described. Thusthe valve 59 works against the spring 60 allowing fluid to pass into thesample chamber through passageways 6I and 23. After pressure hasequalized on both sides of valve 59, the spring 60 closes the valve 59and prevents leakage of the sample from the chamber I2.

The device of Fig. 12 operates similarly to the device of Figs. 1-5 withthe exception that a core is not taken, but a fluid sample is takenthrough conical member 1 I, the fluid passing through perforations orslots 12 and thence upwardly through the device as has been describedwith respect to the taking of the fluid sample.

The apparatus of Figs. 9-11 operates in a similar manner to the previousembodiments. In this embodiment of the invention the bifurcated member88 is forced out of the sleeve I9 by the latter moving upwardly on thetubular member I1 which allows the spring member 31 to bias the coretube 86 against the wall of borehole 4I and into producing formation 43as shown in Fig. 3. Assuming that the apparatus has been locked in thetubing string, as has been described, by letting down weight on thedrill stem, the core tube is forced into the formation. As the core tube86 is forced into formation 43, it moves upwardly with respect to member9| which forces member 98 upwardly with respect to member 8| on shearingof pin 31 when a pre-determined pressure is exceeded. Thus inlet 85 isexposed by upward movement of member 98 allowing fluid to pass from theformation i3 into sample tube 86, through screen 88 and thence intoinlet 85, passageway 33 and to outlet 84 which communicates with samplechamber I2.

As core tube 86 is forced upwardly rupturing shear pin 91, annularsealing sleeve 89 is flexed outwardly against the producing formation 43and causes a seal between it and core tube 86. When the core tube 86 iswithdrawn from formation 43 on picking up of the pipe string, coilspring 94 forces member 86 downwardly with respect to member 9| whichcauses member 89 to resume its unflexed position. At the same time aspressure is relieved from spring 82, member 98 is urged downwardly withrespect to member BI which closes inlet 85 and seals the sample inchamber I2.

It will be seen that the` device of the present invention may be used toobtain a fluid sample and a core sample from the producing formation. Itwill also be seen that the device of the present invention isparticularly adapted to be lowered through a core bit to obtain asample. The apparatus of the present invention with the modification ofFig. 12 is adapted also to take only a fluid sample.

Numerous modifications of the present invention will suggest themselvesto the skilled workman. It is intended that these modificationsembracing the various embodiments shown in the description taken withthe drawing may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention such as altering the sizes, shapes and relativepositions of the various structural members.

I claim:

l. A device for taking a sample from the sidewall of a borehole througha drill stem comprising, in combination, an elongated body dening asample chamber, a tubular section provided with a passagewaycommunicating at an upper end with said chamber, a pivot member having apassageway communicating with a lower end of the passageway in thetubular section, a sleeve slidably surrounding said tubular section,said tubular section being adapted to move downwardly with respect tosaid sleeve, a head member pivctally attached to said tubular section bysaid pivot member, a valve enclosed by said head member communicatingwith the passageway in the pivot member, a sample tube carried by saidhead member adapted to communicate with said chamber, an annulardeformable sleeve surrounding said sample tube adapted to provide a sealbetween an exterior surface of the sample tube and the wall of theborehole on penetration thereof by the sample tube on setting downweight on the drill stem, said valve being opened by downward movementof th'e drill stem and penetration of the wall of the well bore by thesample tube, and a tension member attached to said elongated body andsaid head member adapted to bias said sample tube from the longitudinalaxis of said device on downward movement of said tubular sectionrelative to said sleeve.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the sample tube isprovided with a knife edge on a lower end thereof adapted to cut a core.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the sample tube isprovided with a conical member on a lower end thereof having at leastone opening therein adapted for the flow of fluid therethrough.

4. A device for taking a fluid sample and a core from the sidewall of aborehole through a drill stem comprising, in combination, an elongatedbody defining a sample chamber, a tubular section provided with apassageway communicating at an upper end with said chamber, a pivotmember having a passageway communicating with a lower end of thepassageway in the tubular section, a sleeve slidably surrounding saidtubular section, said tubular section being adapted to move downwardlywith respect to said sleeve, a core head pivotally attached to saidtubular section by said pivot member, a valve enclosed by said core headcommunicating with the passageway in the pivot member, a core tubeprovided with a knife edge on a lower end carried by said core headadapted to communicate with said chamber, an annular deformable sleeveprovided with a exiblemetal stiffener surrounding said core tube adaptedto provide a seal between an exterior surface of the core tube and thewall of the borehole on penetration thereof by the core tube on settingdown weight on the drill stem. said valve being opened by downwardmovement of the drill stem and penetration of the wall of the well boreby the core tube, and a tension member attached to said elongated bodyand said core head adapted to bias said core tube from the longitudinalaxis of said device on downward movement of said tubular sectionrelative to said sleeve.

5. A device in accordance with claim 4 in which the tension member is acoil spring.

MARTIN E. TRUE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lc ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

4. A DEVICE FOR TAKING A FLUID SAMPLE AND A CORE FROM THE SIDEWALL OF ABOREHOLE THROUGH A DRILL STEM COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AN ELON GATEDBODY DEFINING A SAMPLE CHAMBER, A TUBULAR SECTION PROVIDED WITH APASSAGEWAY COMMUNICAT-